


One Big Holiday

by thereisafire



Category: Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Post-Canon, Threesome, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-02 05:11:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2800778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereisafire/pseuds/thereisafire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sugata, Wako, and Takuto travel to Tokyo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Big Holiday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nonesane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nonesane/gifts).



**Sugata**

 

No one standing at the terminal has any idea how the ferry system works.

Sugata's vaguely aware of the ferry timings due to his classmates' tales, but his concept of the ferry system has primarily existed in the stories he told Wako to make the burden more bearable, where they took the first ferry of the day to witness the island fading into the distance. None of these fantasies included practical details like "and then we'll put four hundred yen, or possibly six hundred yen, into the machine, and press the button for our tickets".

The buttons on the ticket machine don't have any labels beyond prices, the price chart is behind the closed counter, and the first ferry is leaving in ten minutes. Sugata stares at the machine, trying to figure out its illogical system. Is four hundred yen the one they want? What's the difference between that and the six hundred yen option?

Takuto tries to conceal a yawn. "We can always take the later ferry."

"We _have_ to leave on the first ferry of the day," Wako says, snatching the notes from Sugata's hand and passing them over. "Go for it, Takuto!"

Takuto slots the money into the machine, presses a series of seemingly-random options with flair, and dramatically poses as the machine spits the tickets out.

Sugata wonders if they can be kicked off a ferry for paying the wrong amount. Maybe Takuto can give them tips on swimming to the mainland, if it comes down to that...

"Don't worry," and Wako places a hand on his shoulder. "It'll all work out!"

As they pick up their luggage and head over to the dock, Tiger and Jaguar tearfully wave farewell to the trio.

"We'll be back in two weeks," Sugata says reassuringly. "Besides, both of you are visiting your relatives, right?"

"It won't be the same without you," Tiger wails.

"Master! Farewell!" Jaguar takes off her tear-splattered glasses, wiping them on her sleeve.

After stowing their luggage on the lower deck, the three of them head up to the top, leaning against the railing.

Takuto hangs back, looking at the sea, but Wako takes Sugata's hand as they both watch the island recede into the distance. Sugata tightens his grip as the island gets further away – what if this is all a long dream? A coma, after he apprivoised? Any moment zero-time will stretch and snap them back to their proper places on the island, or he'll wake up and find it was all a dream, that Takuto didn't really –

Takuto drapes one arm over Sugata's shoulder, and the other around Wako's, and doesn't say anything. The island becomes a thin line on the horizon, then fades away entirely.

The winter wind blows across the endless expanse of sea and sky, and none of them let go of each other.

 

* * *

 

 

According to the signs in Nara, deer apparently have four modes of attack – "bite", "kick", "butt", and "knock down". The signs are everywhere, and have helpful drawings of cartoon people being attacked by deer.

Despite Sugata pointing all of this out, Takuto insists on purchasing crackers for the deer anyway.

"Wow," Takuto says, spraying crumbs on his puffy down vest. "This tastes _really_ bad!"

"You're not a deer. Of course it would."

"Hey, Wako, this is amazingly terrible! Want to try? It's like bitter grass!"

Wako reaches out, breaks a bit off, and takes a tiny nibble. "You're right, it does – wait, why are you eating the whole thing?"

"My grandpa always said that young men should be adventurous about food!"

"I'm not sure he meant deer biscuits..." Wako sighs.

When they get to the deer park, the deer get up from their rest, trotting around all three of them. Wako makes a little high-pitched noise, overcome by their cuteness, and Takuto pulls out a cracker from the pack to feed the tiniest deer in the group.

The largest deer grabs the cracker from Takuto's hand, and promptly kicks Takuto in his chest, snatching all of the food. The other deer start swarming around Takuto, and one of them starts nipping at the bottom hem of his hoodie. It looks like Takuto's in danger of becoming another deer-related casualty – Sugata hauls Takuto out of the deer throng, and they all run for their lives.

However, the park is full of deer, so the running just causes more deer to follow the attractive red-haired man who smells like food.

Sugata briefly considers using a bit of the King's Pillar to ward them off, but with the Z-particle instability after breaking the seals, Nara might become a smoking wreck.

"Didn't...Mizuno...teach you anything," Sugata pants breathlessly, "about taming animals?"

"Do these look like crows to you?"

"I guess there were more crows on the island than deer...she's in Hokkaido now, right? Maybe she's met some deer there!" Wako reaches into her pocket, and pauses for a bit so she can flip her phone open. Sugata pulls her along, as the deer look like they've gained a renewed interest in them with that pause.

"Okay, fine, Sugata, we _won't_ call her," and Wako is probably glaring at him from behind. "Got any other ideas? Takuto, what else did she teach you?"

"The only other thing she taught me was how to climb lamp posts!"

"Takuto," Wako says, wheezing, "a tree is a lot like a lamp post."

Sugata can't even begin to describe all the things wrong with that comparison, so he doesn't even bother.

"Nice, Wako!" Takuto says, and promptly shimmies up the next tree they encounter.

While waiting for the deer to go back to their resting spots, Wako and Sugata lean against the tree trunk, and discuss the rest of their travel plans very quietly.

"Three days in Kyoto, or less? We have two weeks, and the hotel bookings are flexible."

"Hmm," Wako looks thoughtful. "Maybe we can shorten our time in Kyoto? How about two days? I _really_ want to spend more time in Tokyo..."

"I can't hear you," Takuto shouts from the treetop. "It's not fair to leave key people out of the trip discussion!"

"Wako, did you hear something?" Sugata projects his voice a little louder. "It sounded like someone in the tree was talking about travelling with us, but that doesn't make sense at all."

Wako nods knowingly. "Why would anyone want to spend time in a tree rather than with their friends? You're right, that doesn't make sense."

"Fine, you jerks," and Takuto rattles the bare branches of the tree in exasperation. "I'll come down now," but he doesn't seem like he's climbing down by the trunk, in fact it seems like he's going to –

Sugata scrambles to catch Takuto as he leaps off the tree, and just barely manages it before he hits the ground. He's heavy in Sugata's arms, but Sugata manages to set him down safely.

"You could have died!" Sugata glares at him, waiting for him to acknowledge the reality of the situation, of what could have happened if Sugata wasn't fast enough.

"It's a save," Takuto says, grinning, and reaches out for a fistbump.

Sugata sighs, and bumps his fist against Takuto's.

After buying some persimmon-leaf sushi, they retrieve their bags from the coin lockers. Takuto digs a notebook out from his bag, and heads over to a small counter at the side of the train station.

"What are you doing?" Wako peers at the counter.

"Collecting stamps," and Takuto shows them the inked underside of the stamp he's holding before pressing it firmly down on a blank page. "Lots of train stations have this stuff."

After he's done, he proudly holds the notebook open. It's a picture of a majestic-looking deer, posing nobly, with a park and a grand-looking building in the background.

Wako snatches the notebook from Takuto, and runs her finger across the deer, tracing its red-ink outline. Despite the stamp's misleading depiction of deer behaviour, she's completely taken in, and snatches a piece of deer-patterned paper from the stand. She presses the stamp down hard, holding it there for a while, and shows the final result to both of them.

Takuto claps. Sugata is a conscientious objector to the misrepresentation of deer, but when Wako starts to look a bit disappointed, he joins in the applause.

"Come on, Sugata," Takuto says. "Want a stamp?"

"Absolutely not."

"The deer is so cute, though..." Wako pushes the stamp near Sugata's face. "Look at the design, it sort of looks like he's smiling!"

Sugata steps back, and folds his arms. "How quickly both of you forget our afternoon of trauma."

"You know you want it," Takuto says.

"You can join the deer club!" Wako continues waving the stamp at him.

"I'm already in Night Flight." Sugata reaches down to retrieve his bag, and Takuto grabs his hand, turning it palm-up.

"Wako, now!"

Wako darts forward, firmly pressing the stamp down. After she removes it, Takuto keeps Sugata's palm flat, waiting for the ink to dry.

"You two are unbelievable," Sugata says, shaking his head.

Takuto grins, and releases his grip. "In a good way, right?"

Sugata looks down at the mark on his palm, and nods.

 

* * *

 

They're on the train from Osaka to Kyoto, and Sugata can't move his arm.

He stretches his leg out. No, that won't work either.

"Takuto?"

"Yeah?" Takuto removes his earbuds, pausing the track.

"My duffel bag's on the floor, help me get my phone."

"How lazy are you without your maids around...oh."

Even without looking at Takuto, Sugata can tell that he's noticed Wako. Her arms are wrapped around Sugata's, and she's leaning almost all of her body weight on him, her head half-pressed against his shoulder, her silky hair tickling his neck.

"But...she was just awake," Takuto says. "What happened?"

"The crab nabe last night, the crab bento this morning, the crab cream croquettes before we got on the train, and then the pudding."

"The...crab pudding?"

"No, just pudding. Now help me get my phone, I need to message Jaguar and Tiger."

Takuto reaches down to retrieve Sugata's bag, careful not to jostle Wako out of her slumber. As Takuto straightens back up, he gently tucks a stray lock of Wako's hair behind her ear. Sugata feels a surge of friendship for him.

"Whoa, you have a lot of receipts," Takuto comments, rummaging through the bag. "And what's this stuff written on the back...wait, are these phone numbers?"

"Girls like to hand them to me," Sugata says. "Or slip them into my coat pockets." He's tempted to shrug nonchalantly, but Wako would probably wake up.

"Hey, that's not fair – how come I haven't been getting that? We were both popular on the island!"

"Maybe you should get a coat with pockets. Anyway, it won't do them any good – I'll be throwing them away later."

"Later?"

"I usually tear them up first. That way their information won't fall into strangers' hands."

"Wow, you're even a gentleman when rejecting girls – I can totally see why they'd fall for you," and Takuto gently pokes Sugata in the arm.

Sugata raises an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"You're quite a catch for a country bumpkin – sorry, island bumpkin."

"Shut it, outsider," Sugata instinctively says.

"No, I'm actually serious. Scion of a rich family, good-looking," and Takuto ruffles Sugata's hair before finger-combing it back into place. "Tragic past, self-destructive urges," and Takuto taps the middle of Sugata's chest, tracing out the lines of the Samekh mark with his fingertip.

Sugata decides to cut Takuto off before it gets too personal. "I'm not looking for pity. Or hero worship."

Takuto looks straight at him, and his eyes pierce through Sugata. "What are you looking for, then?"

"Someone who can see past those things."

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly – what is essential is invisible to the eye."

The sentiment is appropriate, but that final statement's so completely un-Takuto-like that Sugata can't resist commenting. "Who said that? Your grandfather?"

"Yeah."

"Did your grandfather ever say anything practical? Perhaps 'time for dinner', or 'if you don't hurry up, you'll be late for school'?"

"Well, he _did_ , but why would I quote that? I mean, he also said 'if you don't eat your vegetables you'll get so blocked-up we'll have to use a plunger'. There isn't much occasion to haul that one out..."

"I should hope not."

Takuto finally finds Sugata's phone at the bottom of his bag. Sugata tries to type on the keypad with his left hand, but he's so bad at it that Takuto takes pity on him and types what he dictates, informing Tiger and Jaguar that all of them are fine, and that they should feel free to go on their trip while Sugata's away from the manor. Takuto adds a few embellishments, but they're nothing worth snatching the phone back to correct.

"That's done," Takuto says. "By the way, I noticed you trying to change the subject. We'll talk about your love life some day on this trip, mark my words!"

"Thanks for helping out."

"I'll take my payment now," and Takuto promptly leans his head against Sugata's shoulder. "Wow. I can see why Wako wanted to do this. You're _really_ warm. Wake us up when we're there, okay?"

There are twenty-five minutes before they reach Kyoto. Sugata spends those twenty-five minutes sitting still, hearing the rhythm of Takuto's snoring and Wako's soft breathing, feeling the weight of both their bodies against him, learning them by heart.

 

* * *

**Wako**

 

Tenryuuji is beautiful in winter. The trees are bare of leaves, the pebbles are raked into smooth lines, and Takuto is lying on a bench, refusing to respond to Wako's attempts to wake him up.

Wako pats Takuto's face, and Sugata shakes his shoulder. Takuto makes a little noise, and stirs. He looks at both of them, smiles drowsily, then drifts back into sleep.

"I don't think he's in any condition to explore," Sugata says. "Shall we go for a walk in the meantime?"

"Sure," Wako says, shoving Takuto's bag further under his head, just in case someone tries to steal his stuff while they're away. "Remember where we put Takuto, though."

They decide to skip the buildings, and wander around the temple grounds.

"It's been a long time since we've both taken a walk together." Sugata reaches out, taking her hand. The water on Sogen pond is still and clear, reflecting the sky like the surface of zero-time.

"Yeah," Wako says, lacing her fingers with his. "You've been pretty busy lately."

Thankfully Sugata doesn't use this opportunity to expound on the difficulties of managing the ex-Crux, or the most recent efforts to track down Vanishing Age, or the latest Science Guild reports. If she has to hear one more complaint about Takuto's idiot father, she'll probably scream.

"This feels strange," Sugata muses.

"What, taking a walk with me?" Wako uses her best teasing tone.

"I wasn't expecting to be here with you," Sugata says, gazing up at the greyish-white sky, remaining serious.

"Wait," Wako says, confused. "Who were you expecting to be here with?"

Was he expecting Takuto? Perhaps Sugata actually wanted to explore Tenryuuji together with Takuto, holding hands, maybe sneaking little kisses that turn into something more – no.

"No one, really," Sugata says, and hopefully he's ignored her brief period of inattention. "I was expecting Takuto to be the one here with you."

"Well, he's sleeping on the bench..." Wako cuts her sentence off. Sugata smells like ozone and held-back tears, he smells like the night of his birthday when his father revealed the secret of the Samekh mark. "Why Takuto?"

"Ever since I apprivoised, no, maybe even before then...I was counting on him to leave the island with you."

"Okay," Wako says, and even if she's known it all along, having Sugata say this outright makes a _lot_ of his actions over the past year fall into sharp relief. "Is that why you had him go over to train? All the time?"

"Mostly," Sugata says. "I was trying to equip him to protect you. On your journey. Since I'd be the one sealing Samekh away, I hoped..."

They must have walked around the same pond at least three times, but Wako continues walking with Sugata beside her, and thinks of what to say next while they're on their possibly-fourth lap.

 _Is this a Crux thing,_ Wako doesn't ask. _Has regularly talking to the Crux made you even worse at communication than usual? Or...hold on –_

"You said it was _mostly_ the reason," and Wako looks up at him, willing him to give a straight answer for once. "What was the other part?"

"I had fun training with him," Sugata says sheepishly, face flushing, and Wako marvels at Sugata's ability to be embarrassed about the completely wrong part of the conversation. "After a time. My reasons were utterly selfish, but..."

"It's all right," Wako says. "I'm sure he had fun too."

She tugs on Sugata's hand, steering them onto another path because she can't take a possibly-sixth lap of the same pond. The bare trees are silhouettes against the sky.

"Do you remember when we wished for snow?" Wako glances upwards. "We were in elementary school, and I was sleeping over, and we did that silly ritual from that anime...and when we woke up, there were these white flakes falling from the sky, and we were so happy."

"Oh," Sugata says, and the tips of his ears turn pink. Wako continues, relentlessly.

"Your gardener told us that it was just ash from the volcano, and that it'd never snow on the island. Then you cried because you wanted to see real snow with me, but we could never see it on the island, and I couldn't leave..."

"It probably won't snow now," Sugata says hastily, probably trying to distract her before she gets to the point where he threw a gigantic tantrum at the Southern Temple and started kicking the stone foxes. "And based on the weather reports, it's highly unlikely we'll see snow for the next two weeks."

"That's okay," Wako says. "That's better than knowing we never will."

 

* * *

 

On the morning of their last full day in Kyoto, they go to Nishiki market. There's food literally _everywhere_ , the whole place is a warmly-lit tunnel of delicious things, and after a while, Wako decides to hold her wallet in her hand instead of putting it back into her purse, because there's just so much stuff to buy. Soy milk doughnuts, senbei, fresh yuba, saba-zushi, pickled eggplant, gigantic takoyaki, warabi-mochi...she hopes she has enough room in her stomach when the time comes for lunch.

Takuto and Sugata are sharing a cone of golden sesame soft-serve, each taking turns licking, and turning the cone so that both of them get an equal share. She can't help blushing a little, especially when Sugata uses his thumb to wipe a bit of soft-serve from the corner of Takuto's lips.

Wako's almost done with the warabi-mochi, and takes the little sheet of transparent plastic from the container, licking it clean of the toasted soybean flour.

She's about to ask if any of them have seen a dustbin around when she has an idea.

"How about a kiss through the glass," Wako says, doing her best Kanako Watanabe imitation. She places the transparent plastic sheet over her lips, and waits for Takuto to recoil in shock, waits for Sugata to tell him that she was joking.

But instead, both of them simultaneously lean down, and all three of them bump heads as she startles. The plastic flutters to the ground, and she feels the gentle press of lips against hers – Sugata's soft ones on her left, Takuto's slightly-chapped ones on her right, a three-way chaste kiss.

Wako steps back a little, blushing, and a dull pain starts in her chest, like a surge of fire. She presses her hand against it, trying to ride it out. It's probably heartburn, maybe she shouldn't have eaten the giant takoyaki, but they were so good. Takuto and Sugata are now looking extremely worried, and she flaps her hand to reassure them that she's fine, she can totally handle burnt-sesame ramen for dinner later.

"Uh, Wako," Takuto says. "Look...look down."

"What is it?" Okay, her chest is really hurting now, like a cramp, and it feels like something's fluttering – this is an extremely strange form of heartburn, because the heat seems like it's coming from _outside_ her body.

Wako looks down. Cracked lines of light are hovering above her chest, all rearranging themselves into what looks like a Y.

"Oh," she says.

The Southern Maiden's mark flares back to life on her chest, shining radiantly.

 

* * *

 

After the initial pain, the mark pretty much feels normal. Despite both Sugata and Takuto giving her extremely concerned looks, she manages to convince them to go to the next destination, _then_ figure out what to do, so they can at least be confused while looking at a landmark instead of a hotel room.

All of them sit at the garden at Nijo castle, contemplating their options. Shinsengumi cosplayers pass by, their swords slung against their backs. Wako would probably want a photograph with them, if she were in a better mood.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Sugata says, looking down at his phone and its flat battery. "The Science Guild's reports haven't indicated anything about latent mark reactivation for Maidens..."

"Could someone be regenerating the Cybodies?" Takuto looks thoughtful. "Maybe that's why the mark reappeared."

"No," Sugata shakes his head. "Due to the circumstances in which the last two seals were broken, orihalcon regeneration and reactivation of broken Cybodies is close to impossible until Z-particle concentration equalises – that's technically why we could go on vacation."

"Okay," Wako says, scrolling through her contacts, all of which seem to be utterly unhelpful in the present situation. "So, basically, because my seal got smashed really fast, it shouldn't be possible for that to happen?"

"I still can't believe you _actually_ read the Science Guild reports," Takuto says.

"If I hadn't, we'd still be stuck on the island, and I'd still be at another one of those ex-Crux meetings –"

"Okay," Wako says, cutting Sugata off before he can start complaining about internal politics _again_. "How about Benio? Takuto, you have her number, right? She was in charge of your dorm, wasn't she?"

"I can do better than that," and Takuto brandishes his phone. "How about Kanako Watanabe?"

"Great!" Wako exclaims. "She should at least be helpful. Wait, Takuto, why aren't you calling?"

Takuto tosses his phone to Sugata like it's a hot potato. "You're better at handling her. Do the honours, please."

Sugata snatches it out of midair, and pushes the call button. "Hello? Oh, Simone, can you – I have just the question for you, Mrs Watanabe – yes, I understand you're a married woman – yes, my humble apologies for interrupting your full-body massage, would you like me to hold? Oh, so you'd like my voice to caress you as well..."

Wako watches Sugata as he capably navigates the multiple layers of innuendo. He's using his sultriest voice on the phone, and as he talks, she can feel her mark light up again.

Takuto has nothing to do, so he makes _his_ mark blink on and off, like a very drunk firefly. Even if Wako's worried that her mark's reactivation indicates the island's doom, since Kanako is taking a terribly long time to explain things, she can't help but laugh. Her mark glows brighter as she does so. She hopes that doesn't mean anything bad.

Sugata hangs up, and hands the phone back to Takuto. He looks quite grim, and Wako braces herself for the diagnosis.

"It turns out that the Science Guild had a theory about this – they didn't include it in the report, it was too speculative."

"What is it?"

"After the Maidens' seals were broken, their marks weren't completely destroyed, but went into dormancy. The recent upheaval in zero-time caused a lot of bloodline-latent marks to reactivate. The hypothesis was the maidens could reclaim their lost marks as well, given the right stimulus."

"The right stimulus?" Wako looks down at her glowing mark.

"The strongest form of libido," Sugata says. "Desire for a particular person. Love."

And Wako can just _tell_ , any moment either Sugata or Takuto is going to ask the question that they've been judiciously avoiding since they broke zero-time, and okay, she's tried to be patient and wait for them to come to it by themselves, but enough is enough. She's made her choice.

"What does the theory say about desire for two people at once?" Wako asks.

"What do you mean?" Sugata looks confused, which is good, because if he _wasn't_ confused, he'd probably be planning _another_ grand elaborate scheme to leave her with Takuto and sacrifice himself.

Takuto is gaping at her. That's also good, because if he wasn't stunned, he'd probably ask if he could be the best man when she got married to Sugata.

"This," Wako says, kissing them, a one-two on both their cheeks, then a final one on the lips.

"W-Wako," Takuto says, turning redder than his hair, "W-what was that?"

"I'm not going to choose just one."

"But," Sugata says, and she shuts him up with another kiss.

"I'm in love with both of you!" After exclaiming that, she gives Takuto a kiss to even things out. "Neither of you can talk me out of it!"

"It's not –"

"Normal? Sugata, we've spent our whole lives trapped on an island in order to keep giant robots from destroying the world! How is _that_ normal? What's so great about being normal, anyway?"

"But –"

"Takuto, you're the True Galactic Pretty Boy, clearly the concept of normal hasn't ever gone anywhere near you! I'm not going to run from this any longer, and that's that! I love you both!"

Takuto and Sugata look at each other, wordlessly communicating _something_ , and then both lean down to kiss her at once. This isn't very effective, as they both bump their heads against each other on the way down, but their lips somehow manage to meet hers, even if their noses squish against each other and sort of get in the way.

"This is going to be difficult." Sugata rubs his bruised forehead. "Logistically, I mean."

"Maybe you could wear forehead padding," Takuto taps Sugata's forehead. "You have a really hard skull."

"We'll figure something out," Wako says. "Together."

 

* * *

**Takuto**

 

On their second day in Tokyo, they go separate ways to shop – they've already hit the tourist spots, but Wako wants to do some private shopping at Ikebukuro, whatever that means, and she's insisted that Takuto and Sugata spend some time together for some reason.

Wako taps her Suica card on the reader, and waves enthusiastically before heading up the escalator.

After watching her leave, Takuto and Sugata decide to go to a nearby gyuudon place. They chat about Jaguar and Tiger's holiday plans as they walk there, but the playful banter is somewhat stifled by the lack of physical contact. Takuto isn't sure if he should go for the fistbump after making a particularly good joke, and Sugata doesn't seem like he's going to initiate it – they're fine when Wako's around, but things between both of them have been increasingly awkward ever since Wako's confession.

By the time they've reached the gyuudon place, Takuto can't take it any longer. They both order the same thing, and Takuto directs Sugata to a dingy row of seats near the back of the restaurant, so they can have some privacy for whatever happens next.

Halfway through his gyuudon, Takuto works up his courage. He's terrible with talking about...this sort of stuff, and Sugata knows that, so hopefully he won't drag out the conversation.

Okay. Straight to the point.

"Sugata, are you only interested in kissing Wako...or do you want to k-kiss me as well?"

"Regarding kisses, do you mean now," Sugata smugly takes a bite of beef, "Or in general?"

Takuto's very tempted to tell Sugata how irritated he is, but decides not to veer off-topic. "Both."

"Would it be through the glass, or without the glass? A regular kiss, or a special kiss?"

Wow, Sugata is really enjoying this, he's even stopped eating to observe Takuto's reaction. Why does he even like this _jerk?_

"Without the glass," Takuto says through gritted teeth, torn between wanting to mash his lips against Sugata's mouth and wanting to punch him. "And it depends on the situation." He can feel the blush heating up his face, and hopefully Sugata will end this torture soon.

"That would be fine with me," Sugata says, finishing his gyuudon and dabbing his lips with a paper napkin.

"Glad you approve," and Takuto punches Sugata in the lips using his mouth, stabbing Sugata's parted lips with his tongue, and continues the assault until Sugata has to break off for air. Sugata tastes like beef and onions, but that's not really a bad thing.

"Is that a regular kiss?" Sugata's lips are reddened, his cheeks are flushed, and, okay, they should probably stop before things get too heated in public.

"No," Takuto says. "It's a smooch."

 

* * *

 

"Where's Wako?" Takuto peers at the crowd streaming down the station's escalators, carefully ignoring Sugata's extremely kissable face.

"She said she'd be here at 3.30, and it's –" Sugata flips open his phone to check the time, and makes an irritated noise with his very nimble tongue.

"What's wrong?" Has Wako been kidnapped by talent scouts? Has she collapsed under the weight of the private shopping? Is she lost in Ikebukuro?

"My phone," Sugata says. "The battery's dead again. I'm going to Akihabara to get a spare battery – I'll meet you guys at the Shinjuku station exit at 6 pm, and we can have dinner then."

He passes his shopping bags to Takuto, and then enters the fare gate, and...hold on, _Shinjuku station?_ The one with around two hundred exits?

"Sugata!" Takuto shouts with all his heart, hoping that his voice carries above the crowd. " _Which exit at Shinjuku?_ Which _line?_ "

There's no reply. Takuto almost takes his phone out to call Sugata, and, oh right, Sugata is going to Akihabara because his phone keeps _dying_.

Just as Takuto's contemplating how to break the news to Wako – "sorry, we rescued Sugata from Samekh, but I guess we lost him to a train station" – he sees her coming down the escalator, and waves frantically. Wako's dragging two bundles of books and two bulging tote bags around, and all of them look like they're about to lose the battle against gravity at any moment.

"Wako, did you see Sugata on the way down?" Takuto takes most of the bags from her. Together with Sugata's sacks of souvenirs, he can barely move – it brings back memories of Grandpa's strength training.

"Wasn't he with you?" Wako tilts her head, and looks exceedingly puzzled. "We were going to go to the hotel together and rest before dinner, right?"

"Oh. About that..."

By the time they reach the hotel, Takuto is breathless from explaining Sugata's predicament, and also from carrying three-quarters of his body weight around.

"Well," Wako exclaims, "We can't do anything until the meeting time, so let's go have croquettes, then go to Shinjuku and check things out!"

"I was expecting you to be a lot more worried," Takuto says.

"If all else fails, we can get the station to do a missing-child announcement," and Wako grins mischievously.

"Nice!" Takuto bumps his fist against hers.

Two croquettes later, they reach the station at 5 pm. After studying the full station map and looking at the crowd, Takuto concludes that they'll never see Sugata again.

Then he thinks of something.

"Wako, your sense of smell..."

"Oh," Wako says. "It works better on the island, where there aren't many people around...it _might_ work here, if I knew which path he was likely to take."

"It's okay." Takuto pats her on the shoulder. "I can see it."

Sugata prefers less transfers even if the route takes longer, and he likes to take JR trains instead of local subways – he usually tries to arrive fifteen minutes before the scheduled meeting time, so he'll reach at around 5.45 pm – Takuto checks the train timetables, and there's really only one option.

"He's on the Chuo/Sobu local service," Takuto says. "Arriving at 5.46 at track number 16. The one that ends at Mitaka."

"Good work!" Wako looks relieved, but the mission's not over yet.

"I'm not sure about the exit he'll take. It depends on which end of the train he's on. We'll need to go in and meet him on the platform."

They head into the station, hand in hand. It's _technically_ okay if they get separated, because Wako actually has a working cell phone, but it would be pretty embarrassing if they all got lost in Shinjuku Station's labyrinth.

At 5.30 pm, despite his irritation at island-bumpkin Sugata and his extremely vague meeting points, he can feel his heart beat a little faster, minute by minute, even if he's spent so much time being annoyed by Sugata that, logically, he should be sick of his stupid face by now.

"You like him too, don't you?" Wako takes Takuto's hand, and her cheeks are a little flushed too.

"Yeah," Takuto admits. "Although Sugata kind of..."

"I know, right? He's _such_ an idiot sometimes, do you remember when..."

By the time they've finished airing their grievances about Sugata and his inability to communicate directly, the 5.46 pm train doors open, and Wako's nose twitches. She grabs Takuto's hand, and drags him forward, breaking into a run.

"Ten metres – he's on the move, take that escalator, no, the _other_ one, okay, go left now, twenty metres, turn," Wako says, and Takuto follows her lead, apologising to people as they rush past.

The crowd thins out a little closer to the exit, and Takuto can see Sugata's head now, so they aren't relying solely on Wako's incredible boy-hunting nose. Sugata stops to look at one of the station signs, separating from the throng of people, and steps back a bit, possibly reeling in horror as he realises the extent of his lostness.

Before Sugata can get too panicked, Takuto and Wako approach him from behind, stealthily, but he turns around just as they're about to surprise him.

"How did you _know_ ," Wako asks in dismay. "We weren't even supposed to meet here!"

"I'd know both of you anywhere," Sugata says, and his grin makes Takuto's heart skip a beat.

 

* * *

 

Wako's mysterious parcels from Ikebukuro are fan comics – the ones wrapped in paper and bundled up are utterly personal and completely off-limits, but she's permitted Takuto and Sugata to flip through the dog-eared ones in the tote bags, since they're for Sarina.

Most of them are fan-drawn continuations of _Kon-Chan and the Galactic River Girl_ , a children's anime that got cancelled ages ago, but there are a few that aren't. Takuto is reading one of those right now – _Private Drama Rehearsal_ is a tale of forbidden love between a rich and a poor schoolboy. It involves a lot of crying, a lot of misunderstandings, and many unrealistic poses.

"Okay, come on," Takuto says. "This is awful!"

"Why don't you go back to reading about that little fox and his starfaring friend," Sugata says, flipping through _Always the Feeling: Maximum Touch Club_. "I'm sure that's more your speed."

"Take a look at this page," Takuto insists, waving it in front of Sugata. "That's not physically possible. He can't bend that much when the other guy's there."

"It actually is," Sugata says matter-of-factly. "I can manage that one."

"I'll bet a thousand yen that you can't."

"Fine," Sugata says, "But this pose can't be done alone. I'll need someone to lock my ankles around."

"All right." Takuto's fine with that, especially since the pose is practically impossible. He considers adding a few more stipulations to the bet, since Sugata's essentially agreeing to lose.

Fifteen minutes later, Takuto owes Sugata four thousand yen, a full-body hot-oil massage, and possibly a lifetime of labour. His arms and legs tremble as he struggles to hold his pose. Sugata looks even smugger than usual, which must be quite difficult to manage.

The door to the suite beeps, and opens. "Okay, Sugata, I got the stamps for your postcards! Takuto, do you want some too? I can go down and get a few _oh my god_ –"

Takuto gives up on holding his end of the pose, and collapses onto Sugata's chest.

"That means you owe me another thousand yen," Sugata murmurs, ruffling Takuto's hair.

"Whatever," Takuto says, too in pain to object. He rolls off Sugata, onto the other end of the gigantic bed.

"W-what was this," Wako says, and her cheeks are turning pink. "What were both of you doing?"

"It," Sugata says.

"It?" Wako echoes.

Takuto overcomes his aching muscles to reach for _Private Drama Rehearsal_ , and waves it in Wako's general direction. Even his armpits hurt.

"But I told them to wrap that one up," Wako blurts, then blushes even harder.

"It had some interesting ideas," Sugata says. "I particularly liked the two-page spreads."

"Wait, wait, that was _yours_?"

"It was," Wako mumbles.

"There's no need to be ashamed, Wako – it's actually quite good."

"Sugata, are you kidding," and Takuto opens it to a random two page spread, where the rich and the poor schoolboy are having very tearful sex while wailing about their various past traumas. "They spend the whole thing being miserable!"

"The _basic concept_ is good," Sugata says. "I'm sure we can improve on it."

"Improve on it?" Takuto asks.

"A bit of live theatre," and Sugata runs his index finger along Takuto's jawline. "You don't mind performing for an audience, do you?"

"That's fine by me," Takuto says, reaching over, ignoring the burn in his arm muscles as he undoes the first button on Sugata's shirt. "I'm open to taking audience suggestions, too."

Wako's biting her lip – it seems like she's trying to conceal her excitement, but the rest of her face is giving it all away.

"Perhaps we could even introduce a third actor in the second act." Sugata says, motioning to Wako. She presses both her hands to her mouth, and _oh_. Takuto's never seen her eyes sparkle like that.

"That sounds like a plan," Takuto says, waving to Wako. "Let's discuss the script."

Wako scrambles onto the bed as fast as she can.

 

* * *

 

Wako's willing to sacrifice her tube of moisturiser for a good cause, and it turns out that over the past month, she's had a ton of ideas about how this should play out.

Which is how Takuto's naked and lying on his back, his legs up in the air, waiting for Sugata to get going. Wako's perched on the side of the bed, watching intently.

"You should stretch more," Sugata says. "I can see your legs trembling already."

"Shut up," Takuto says.

Sugata slicks his fingers up with a dollop of moisturiser, and Takuto can feel Sugata's fingertips slathering his hole with lube, and then dipping inside him as he tries his best to breathe deeply and unclench.

Wako puts her hand on his face, gentling him. "Relax a little more."

"I'm trying," and, okay, it still feels really weird, but he thinks he can adapt to the situation. "Hold on a little."

"Don't worry," Sugata purrs seductively. "Soon you'll be ready for the King's Pillar."

After the initial realisation that, yes, Sugata has said that, and he wasn't being deadpan, he actually meant for it to be _sexy_ , Takuto howls with laughter, curling into a ball on the bed.

He can just picture Sugata's annoyed face at this development, and that just makes him laugh even harder.

"I'm not allowing you anywhere _near_ my ass," Takuto chokes out. "Prohibited! No entry!"

"Sugata," Wako says in an irritated tone. "Learn to read the mood."

"My apologies," and Sugata clearly doesn't feel sorry at all, but whatever.

Sugata attempts to uncurl Takuto and lift his legs up again. Takuto presses his whole body flat to the bed, like a very stubborn starfish.

"Takuto, be good for Sugata," Wako says, leaning in closer, and okay, that just shouldn't be allowed, the way she's pressing her bare skin against him, and he can feel the hardness of nipples, the softness of her breasts. She places her hand on his hip, moving under his thigh, coaxing it upwards, then does the same with the other, and if that's what Wako wants, who is he to refuse?

Sugata starts slow, and mercifully doesn't attempt much more dirty talk. Wako places her fingers against Sugata's cheek, moving down, gently stroking his delicate skin. Sugata makes a soft noise, turning into Wako's touch as he presses into Takuto, and Takuto tilts his head back, raises his legs up a little more, lets Sugata fuck him open.

Sugata's taking it steady, and if Takuto lets him go on, they'll probably be here all night.

Wako reaches between them, tracing the lines of the scar on Takuto's chest, and Takuto takes a ragged moan, arching up just as Sugata thrusts deeper, and it feels like his body's burning with sheer sensation.

"Faster," Takuto says, because he's practically aching for it now, he can feel his cock throbbing with every slight movement Sugata makes, the sensation of skin against skin, the way Sugata's pinning Takuto to the bed with his body, and if going faster gets him more friction instead of this slow smooth slide, Takuto is all for it.

"If that's how you want to play," Sugata says, his voice going husky, "then I won't hold back."

"Good," Takuto says, baring his teeth in a grin. "I wouldn't want you to."

Sugata braces himself against Takuto, gripping his shoulders firmly, leans back, and pushes into him, fast and hard.

Drops of Sugata's sweat splash onto Takuto's chest with every thrust, and the space between their bodies seems electric, feels magnetised, like Sugata's body is being drawn to his by some inexorable force.

He turns his head to catch his breath and check on Wako – she's gorgeous in the dim light, one hand splayed over her breasts, teasing her nipples into hard points. She's mostly naked, but she hasn't taken her panties off, and she's using her other hand to tease herself through the striped fabric, which is turning increasingly translucent as she moves her index finger in little slow circles. She moves her middle finger up and down her slit, and her panties are practically soaked by now just from _watching_.

Takuto pushes his hips up just as Sugata moves down, and hooks his legs around Sugata to pull him nearer. He meets Sugata's mouth, draws him into a kiss, and, yeah, this is worth the muscle strain, because it lets Takuto's tongue delve into Sugata's wet mouth as Sugata moans against him, causing Sugata to grind down harder. Sugata's grip slackens on Takuto's shoulders as Takuto deepens the kiss, his thrusts getting erratic. Takuto can tell it'll just take a bit more to set Sugata off, whatever that is, and breaks away from the kiss to latch his teeth into Sugata's neck, pressing his teeth down hard, sucking on the bite mark, and Sugata cries out, his hips jerking wildly, and comes.

After taking a few moments to catch his breath, Takuto extricates himself from Sugata. His cock is still hard and ready and leaking pre-come, but Sugata is clearly in no condition to do anything at the moment. He's all fucked-out, his kiss-swollen lips are half-open as he gasps for air, and the bite mark mars the smooth skin of his throat, makes Takuto want to mark him everywhere else.

Wako places a hand on Takuto's cock. "Want me to help you with that?"

She _sounds_ the same as usual, like she's asking a casual question at school, but her eyes are dark with lust.

"Maybe later," Takuto says. "First things first," and he turns towards her, pushing her panties down her hips – they're soaked through, and her thighs are glistening wet.

It'd be so easy to slide his fingers inside, and Takuto takes a moment to tease her, using his fingertips to trace around her hole before –

"Breaking a Maiden's seal again, Takuto?" And Sugata has the worst timing _ever_ , because Wako starts to laugh so hard that she clenches up, and Takuto can't even get his fingertips in.

"You're an idiot," Takuto says. "Wako, he's an idiot."

"I know that," Wako says, wiping tears away from her eyes. "He's _our_ idiot, though."

"Maybe we should keep him too busy to talk," Takuto suggests, and with that statement, Wako's eyes gleam like a predator's. She guides them into a new position, shifting their arms and legs till she's satisfied, whispering stage directions into their ears, and they get going again once Sugata agrees to shut up.

Sugata's playing with Wako's breasts from behind, using his thumbs to tease her nipples, pinching them gently, and Wako's letting out sweet little moans as Sugata nips the point where her neck meets shoulder, grinding back against Sugata. It's beautiful how their bodies meet each other, how Sugata knows Wako's body well enough to tease, how Wako reaches behind her to stroke Sugata's neck, both of them moving with easy, affectionate familiarity, and they're so in sync with each other that Takuto can't bear to break in.

Takuto's cock aches just by watching them, a low steady throb of desire, but it's okay, Wako's more important, it's just a test of endurance –

"Takuto," and Wako whimpers a little as Sugata begins to lick her ear instead of nibble on it, and she spreads her legs wider, "What are you doing? It's your cue, so come on –"

Takuto works his fingers around her wetness, getting them slick, up and down, then slowly eases one into her, feels her tighten around it. She arches up, arches into Takuto, her body taut and ready, and Sugata lets out a low noise, running his hands down the sides of her body.

And Takuto pushes another two fingers in, working in and out of her, rubbing her clit with the pad of his thumb, feeling Wako buck and writhe and sob, clenching around him as he moves faster. He curls his fingers slightly as she pushes back onto his hand. Her cheeks are flushed, and she tilts her head back, letting Sugata trail his fingers around her collarbone, move down to her cleavage.

Takuto stops fingerfucking Wako for a moment in favour of pressing his palm down onto Wako's crotch, and Wako spreads her legs wider to rock against it, pressing her weight down, leaving a trail of wetness as she moves up and down, rubbing herself off.

"Takuto," she says softly, a broken moan, and it's hard to tease when she's clearly so desperate, when Sugata's also winding her tighter and tighter with his touch, brushing his hands over her without direct contact, tracing the shell of her ear with the tip of his tongue, cupping her breasts but not squeezing. "Hurry up, please..."

"Shhh," and Takuto pushes down on her clit with his thumb, a circular motion, a gentle pressure, and slides his fingers back in, hard and fast, but it's still not enough, she's not quite there, and Takuto crooks his fingers, thrusts back in and buries them to the hilt, and she grinds down against them, practically sucking him in, almost, almost, and Sugata takes advantage of the opportunity to bite down _hard_ on her earlobe as Takuto rocks back into her, and she throws her head back and lets out a high-pitched keen, clenching hard around Takuto, her thighs trembling as she shakes apart in Sugata's arms.

Takuto slicks his cock with Wako's residual wetness on his fingers, but he's been hard and wanting for so long that he's practically ceased to notice the sensation, so his usual technique isn't really doing much. He gives his cock a perfunctory tug, and another, and that's when Sugata shoves him down flat on the bed and wraps his lips around Takuto's cock, and, oh, _fuck_.

It feels like his world has narrowed down to his aching cock and Sugata's mouth, and then Wako's hands join in, tracing the lines of his ribs, and Takuto's breaths turn into whimpers as she moves her palm upward, to the cross-shaped scar on his chest. Takuto can't decide if he wants to thrust into Sugata's hungry mouth or lean into Wako's touch until her palm touches the sensitive ridges of his scar, but it turns out he doesn't have to choose because Sugata's relaxing his throat to fit more of Takuto's length, and Wako's switched to licking his scar instead, her hot breath against his skin, and it's almost too much to handle, the feeling thrumming through his body with every beat of blood. He tries to ride the sensation out, his breath hitching needily as Sugata bobs his head up and down, as Wako alternates between stroking his scar and teasing his nipples with her teeth and just plain _touching_ him, and he clenches his hands around the bedsheets in an effort to keep control, not to come too soon, but it's no use, he's gone too long, he can't possibly hold back any more when it feels this good, and finally, finally he arches into Wako's hands, emptying himself into the wet warmth of Sugata's throat.

Takuto wants to kiss them, wants to hold them, wants to say _something_ that conveys everything he feels, but he's so gone on sensation, so fucked-out that all he can do is lie on the bed and wait to recover.

Sugata curls up next to him, pillowing his head on Takuto's chest, and Wako lies down too, sprawling on top of them like she owns them both. Takuto shifts a bit to accommodate them, to feel both their bodies pressed against his, and eventually, all three of them drift off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

There's some weird growling noise in the room, and Takuto almost extricates himself from the puppy-pile to check the heater, before realising that it's actually Wako's stomach.

"Wow," Takuto says. "That's a lot louder than usual."

"Shhh," Wako hisses. "Sugata's still asleep!"

"I'm not," Sugata says, leaning over to check the clock, nearly pushing Wako off the bed. "Since we're all awake, and it's coming to four am, let's head over to Tsukiji for the fish auction. If we take a taxi –"

"Are you _kidding_ ," Takuto says, ready to argue Sugata back into bed if necessary. Sugata's singlehandedly keeping most of the bed warm, and Takuto has a significant interest in keeping this state of affairs going for as long as possible.

Wako's stomach rumbles thunderously.

"I wouldn't mind getting some ramen," Wako says sheepishly. "Maybe we could go eat, then come back here to sleep?"

"Is there any place that's open?" Takuto snuggles into the warm spot of the bed, reluctant to move, luxuriating in the residual body heat. Maybe he can get back to sleep before the bed cools off.

"I think I saw an all-night stand near the metro station," Sugata says. "It's a bit of a walk. I'm also not sure if I can find it again."

"What sort of ramen was it?" Wako asks, suddenly sounding a _lot_ more awake, and Takuto gives up on all hopes of returning to the happy world of slumber.

After a perfunctory cleanup, they get dressed, and step out of the hotel, shivering in the winter air.  There's no traffic on the road, but they wait for the light to change anyway, just to be safe.

"Oh," Wako says, a sharp intake of breath. "Look up."

The sky is still dark, but there's a flurry of shining sparks drifting through the air – snowflakes glowing in the lamplight, fluttering down from the sky like glittering shards of stars.

Sugata holds his hand to his mouth like he's trying to politely conceal a yawn, but Takuto can tell he's smiling widely, and Wako's laughing as she holds her hands up to the sky, and Takuto can't help himself, he breaks into a grin too. Sugata takes Wako's hand and spins her around, her winter coat flaring out into a perfect circle. Sugata bows like a gentleman and holds his other hand out to Takuto, and that's when Takuto notices the traffic light _has already changed_ while they were all distracted.

Takuto grabs Sugata's hand, and Sugata keeps hold of Wako's hand, and the snow falls on all three of them as they run across the road, through the empty streets of Tokyo, holding on to each other, not letting go.


End file.
